by Elsie Duggan
Member since:
November 8, 2006

How Many Steps - Zoomit- Steps - Week 18 - non challenge

October 05, 2008 12:59 AM EDT
views: 96 | comments: 49

I didn't have a picture of steps, but when I thought of the steps that took my brother Larry from us while he suffered from Altzheimers disease, I thought of him and wrote this in his memory, almost a year ago he left us.  Bless him.

 

 

 

 

 

 





How many steps to get there

How many years did it take

How I wish I could relive them

But what difference would that make

 

How many moments were anxious

How many years did we worry

How many times did he tell me

He was not in any hurry

 

After he called me to tell me

How many tears did I shed

How many steps had he taken

Before his brain wasn't fed

 

How many steps did he go through

To forget the steps that he took

How many fears did he face

I think they could fill a book

 

For losing our sense of person

Forgetting who you were and are

How many steps do you take

How many miles to a star

 

I know how many steps that went downward

As I saw my brother losing his way

When I called to speak to him

Who are you, he would say

 

How many steps till it all went

Until there was nothing he could remember

How far did he fall in a spiral

To become just a dying ember

 

How many steps did it take him

To reach Heaven's Pearly Gate

I don't think it took too many steps

As he ran remembering, to his soul mate

 

 

 

 
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Comments: 49

Steph-in-NE ..... Oct 5, 2008, 1:03am EDT
Wow how do you do this,, I was just think how much time my mom got,, she losing it too,, calls me my sister most of the time,, Then I think how far she must go to get where she wants to go,, then stop to read this and wow it hit me,,
Thanks for sharing you wonders of you will
Kathryn E. Oct 5, 2008, 1:06am EDT
So very heartfelt, Elsie. It is sad to lose a brother, especially to Alzheimers. I remember when you lost him last year.

Featured in the Triple Name Club.
vijay kumar Oct 5, 2008, 1:17am EDT
Great work, Elsie. Sad,moving, magnificently written.
elizabeth e. Oct 5, 2008, 1:46am EDT
Beautiful, Elsie...what a lovely tribute to your brother.
Kathy W. Oct 5, 2008, 1:51am EDT
Elsie. You know how I feel about this challenge of Alzh. You know how it bruises my heart.
Up close and pesonal, from 10+ years of caring for mom. This was a lovely tribute to a beloved brother. Hopefully, they will have a plaque stripper for the brain before my children have to face it. We need dramatic steps in medicine and research.
But it seems that we're so busy making pills for imagined illnesses, instead of investing in serious research. I bet if we were to make it a national priority, we could have this Alzheimer's and CP and CF "cured" in our lifetime.

Blessings on you, Ms. E. You are priceless!
Wilka
Larry H. Oct 5, 2008, 1:56am EDT
thanks for sharing...nice poem
Bhawana 'Gather Proud Mom' Oct 5, 2008, 3:37am EDT
Dear Elsie,
I remember your poem, which you posted last year.This is touching and so sad.I am so touched.

Thanks
Dr. Ashok Saxena Oct 5, 2008, 3:40am EDT
a priceless poem.
Kushal Poddar Oct 5, 2008, 4:12am EDT
For losing our sense of person
Wonderful.Its the thing I wanted to achieve.
A kitty party of disturbed mind…:
Rob Appell Oct 5, 2008, 7:36am EDT
Usually, the more steps you climb; the slower it becomes. With Alzheimer's, it seems to be the other way around. The more steps you go; the faster they fade away. Though we weren't close, I went through this with my father. Once he had it to the top of those steps, it was time to rest...and wait...until there were no more steps to take.
William Dotani Oct 5, 2008, 8:23am EDT
Very sad, yet your verse has a rather perky flowing rhythm. I guess the last stanza is the positive step of hope.
Digital Diva S. Oct 5, 2008, 8:43am EDT
Wow Elsie - this should be a song.

Thanks for posting this to Best Original Photos, Art and Writing for 2008
Ron Hall Oct 5, 2008, 8:58am EDT
Elsie, add me to the thank yous. I think this conveys what you mean to say in a clear way. It is the feature in today's Gather Writing Essentials group.
Sassy Cat Oct 5, 2008, 9:20am EDT
such a lovely, heartfelt poem, Elsie
Deb J. Oct 5, 2008, 9:37am EDT
This is a wonderful tribute Elsie!! You always know how to put things int perspective with your words!! Great job.
Nana to Seven Cutiepies Oct 5, 2008, 9:44am EDT
A beautiful tribute to your brother Elsie.
Elaine S. Oct 5, 2008, 10:00am EDT
Beautiful poem Elsie
Christin Lore Weber Oct 5, 2008, 10:29am EDT
Elsie dear, this poem touched me deeply. Like many who responded here, I went through the many steps with a family member: my mother. Twelve years it took. When I look back on that time and realize how courageous she was, I catch my breath, and hope that if such a fate awaits me, I will have developed the same courage and grace. Thank you for giving such loving meaning to this journey through your poetry.
JustMe ~I'm happy to be~ Oct 5, 2008, 10:33am EDT
So very heartwarming.
Debra C. Oct 5, 2008, 10:35am EDT
Every family member will thank you for this beautiful poem outlining their lives with their loved ones.
flit . Oct 5, 2008, 11:09am EDT
an excellent choice for the theme
lynn a. Oct 5, 2008, 1:08pm EDT
This poem almost takes on a heaviness and puts it on us, just like the disease itself, and I found myself feeling weighted plodding along through the misery of just trying to move on, just exactly as the disease takes over and weights people. This is the first time a poem has actually weighted me, yet doggedly persistent I was constantly grasping for the next line, next moment of hope. Just exactly as one does with the disease. This is excellent, Elsie.
Natalie Neal Whitefield Oct 5, 2008, 2:08pm EDT
Such a tender tribute to a beloved brother...
Sue M. Oct 5, 2008, 2:27pm EDT
What a beautiful and moving poem, and lovely tribute to your brother, Elsie. My mother has Alzheimer's and I've seen her "steps downward" over the past six plus years. I thank God every day that she doesn't know she has it and is in no pain. But sadly, she has now lost her ability to speak... a woman who was full of life, knew no stranger, and had a wonderful sense of humor.
Elsie Duggan Oct 5, 2008, 2:33pm EDT
My brother was diagnosed at age 73 and died when he was about to turn 77, whatever kind he had, must have been very progressive, as it took him very fast, perhaps a blessing.
P.W. Dowdy Oct 5, 2008, 4:25pm EDT
Nothing has explained the diagnosis better than this poem for me.

I am watching someone I know with the same ailment and it just wrenches my heart to witness the havoc it causes for its victims.

Your heart is showing, Elsie. Thank God for your sharing.
Alison H. Oct 5, 2008, 5:32pm EDT
A beautiful tribute, and the repetition makes it so powerful and moving.
Marge H. Oct 5, 2008, 5:53pm EDT
If I could give this more than a ten I would. A deeply moving and beautiful tribute.
Sandi S. Oct 5, 2008, 7:41pm EDT
A heartfelt, moving tribute, Elsie. Your brother must have loved you very much. You are so caring and compassionate.

The ending brought a smile to my face as he remembers once he is in heaven.
Alison Pearce Oct 5, 2008, 8:31pm EDT
Such a tear jerker Elsie!! Beautifully done.
Kimberly Ripley Oct 5, 2008, 10:00pm EDT
Sad and beautiful at the same time, Elsie. Alzheimers ravages so many. It's a cruel disease.
Jennifer aka Jenn B. Oct 5, 2008, 11:32pm EDT
So sad...so frightening...so lonely the trip of steps he took...
Bhawana 'Gather Proud Mom' Oct 6, 2008, 4:43pm EDT
Priceless,
Bhawana 'Gather Proud Mom' Oct 6, 2008, 4:43pm EDT
lOVE YOU...

zoomit is proud to be associated with you...
Bhawana 'Gather Proud Mom' Oct 6, 2008, 4:43pm EDT
Photobucket.
Sue M. Oct 6, 2008, 4:48pm EDT
Congrats, Elsie!
Jennifer aka Jenn B. Oct 6, 2008, 5:10pm EDT
Congrats Elsie!
Donna C. Oct 6, 2008, 6:46pm EDT
Heartfelt, sad and yet beautiful.
I loved the last line "as he ran to meet his soul mate"
I am assuming that was his wife.
You surely have a way with words.
Thank you Elsie
Valerie Roars Oct 6, 2008, 6:54pm EDT
Congrats! :)
elizabeth e. Oct 6, 2008, 7:30pm EDT
Oh this was just wonderful, Elsie. Congrats on your first place win.
Digital Diva S. Oct 6, 2008, 8:06pm EDT
Congratulations
Sheila Deeth Oct 6, 2008, 8:48pm EDT
Wow. Beautiful touching poem Elsie. Just lovely. Well deserved congratulations!
Donald M. Oct 7, 2008, 11:20am EDT
Congratulations Elsie, you deserve so much more than a ten . But so did Larry. We dont know what they feel inside. We only know what we see or hear. Beautiful Poem dear friend.
Ann Weaver Hart Oct 7, 2008, 12:57pm EDT
A wonderful tribute to your brother. Thanks.
Lisa K. Oct 8, 2008, 12:35pm EDT
Beautiful writing, Elsie...and a wonderful tribute. Congratulations on your Zoomit win.
As always, you've touched my heart.

Thanks for posting to What's the Point? I really appreciate it, because it helps me to see all your work (sooner or later).
Maureen Sullivan Stemberg May 13, 2009, 5:34pm EDT
Elsie,

What a wonderful tribute...From a wonderful person. Job well done! ~mo-zy

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